Undergraduate - UnitATS2895 - Gender, race and journalism

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2014 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

Synopsis

This unit examines media content and production processes through a gendered (and raced) lens, as both are key equity issues in journalism. Has the influx of women into media industries changed the 'news'? How is gender implicated in newsroom culture? Why do men continue to dominate positions of power in most media organisations? Students also explore the coverage of indigenous and ethnic issues in mainstream media, and the rise of indigenous and ethnic media in Australia. Students are introduced to key issues in feminist media scholarship, and Journalism Studies, while also critically engaging with contemporary journalism practice and the news media's relationship with, and responsibility to, indigenous and ethnic issues. Its overarching focus, however, is to explore gendered newsroom culture in this rapidly changing, intensified global industry.

Outcomes

On completion of this course students should be able to:

demonstrate a satisfactory knowledge and capacity to understand and analyse the academic literature in the fields under examination

demonstrate an ability to research, discuss and critically reflect on the issues of gender and race and how they relate to journalism practice and media content in a clear, concise and rigorous scholarly manner

collaborate constructively with fellow students in learning and discussion processes, including online forums

think critically and analytically, and to be able to articulate those thought processes in a high standard of written and oral expression

work independently and in groups to achieve the learning outcomes

demonstrate a critical awareness of the strengths and limitations of journalism practice in relation to gender and indigenous issues